Apparatus for removing tie elements from hands of leaves



Sept. 22, 1936. T R, PR|VDDY Y 2,055,307

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING TIE ELEMENTS FROM HANDS OF LEAVES Filed Jan. 27, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l l.' N #van M7 MW T.A R. PRIDDY Sept. 22, 1936.

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING TIE ELEMENTS FROM HANDS OF LEAVES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 27, 1956 lll lung

T. R. PRIDDY 2,055,307

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING' TIE ELEMENTS FROM HANDS OF LEAVES Spt.' 22, 1936.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 27, 1956 Patented Sept. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR REMOVING TIE ELEMENTS FROM HANDS OF LEAVES Thomas R.. Priddy, Richmond, Va., assigne-r to The American Tobacco Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 27, 1936, Serial No. 61,091

4 Claims.

My present invention relates generally to tobacco stemming machines andmore particularly to mechanism for feeding hands or tied bundles of leaves and for removing the tie-leaf 5 from each hand or bundle as it is fed to the stemming machine where the membraneous portions of the leaves 'are stripped from their stems,

and this application is a continuation in part of my prior application Ser. No, 9,506, filed March '5, 1935. 1 Y

As pointed out in my said prior application Ser. No. 9,506, a so-called hand of tobacco consists of a number (from 20 to 50) of tobacco leaves tied together at their butt ends with another tobacco leaf which is wound about the butts with the free end of the'tie-leaf tucked in between the stems of two adjacent leaves in order to hold the hand or bundle intact for future handling,`

such as curing, ageing and other treatments.

:- Also as pointed out in my said prior application the general practice up to the time of the invention forming the subject matter of my said application, in removing the tie leaves from the hands was performed manually and was slow and tedious.

In my said prior applicationSer. No.9,506, I disclose automatic apparatus for eifecting the removal of the tie leaves during the feeding of the hands of leaves to a stemming machine. In said application the implements which directly eiect the removal of the tie leaves are shown and described as cuttingV blades, and although these operate with success, Ihaverfound that the same result may be obtained in an improved manner by the use of implements other than cutting blades which directlyl engage and remove the tie leaves.

The rprincipal general object of the present invention may, therefore, be said to reside in the VprovisionV of hooks or hook-like members in the place of cutting blades to engage and remove the tie leaves from the hands of leaves.

The mechanism for feedingi'the hands of leaves to the removingmeans and'stemming machine is shown and described in the present application to be,` the same as that shown and described inmy said priorapplication.

' i in order to enable othersV sknled in. the art `00 5o understand, construct Aand useY my said invention, Iwill now proceed to describe the vsame in detail, reference being made forthat purpose tov the: accompanying drawings,l.wherein-x .1 Fig. 1,.is a top plan view'of themachine shown 55. applied toa; .known type vof `stemming machine.

tie-leaf cutting mechanism. 5

Fig. 4, is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of one form of tie-leaf cutting blade and its mounting.

Fig. '7, is an explodedview of the cutting blade Vl0 and its mounting. Fig. 8, is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the implements forming the subject matter of the present invention for eiecting removal `of the tie leaves. 15 Fig. 9, is a View similar to Fig. '7 showing one of the removing hooks and its mounting with the parts -in inverted position. i

Fig. 10, is aview similar to Fig. 6 showing one of the removing hooks secured to its mounting. 20

Referring to Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, the reference letter A indicates generally the feed end of a tobacco stemming machine, as, for example, the machine of the C. G. Maxwell patent, No. 1,986,781,1-and'the reference letter B indicates 25 generally my improved tie-leaf cutting and feeding mechanism shown in association with such a tobacco stemming machine. In the stemming machine of the Maxwell patent, the leaves to be stemmed are carried through 3o.

the machine -by means of opposed groups of endless cables a, as more clearly described in the said patent', said cables being mounted in part upon pulleys b, that are in turn mounted upon a shaft c,driven in any suitable manner as by means of 35 a chain d, from a motor e.

My improved tie-leaf cutting and removing means consists, in the Villustrated form of the invention, of a housing I, mounted upon legs 2, the housing having a hinged cover 3 at its upper 40 end whereby access maybe gained to the interior thereof.

Journaled in bearings carried by the end walls W of the housing and extending transversely thereof are two horizontal shafts il, one of which is located above the other, said shafts being rotated in opposite directions by any suitable means, such as the chain and sprocket arrangement illustrated'in Figs. 1 and 3, although it is obvious that any other arrangement of driving means may be employed, the means illustrated being merely by way of illustration. i

. Upon each of the shafts 4 is mounted a plurality of blade holders 5, eachof which carries a removable blade 6, having a cutting edge 1. Each blade-holder 5, as more clearly shown in Figs. 6'

and 7, has an offset flange 8 to receive its blade E, which is removably secured thereto by means of screw bolts I0, the blades being further pro` vided with spaced openings I2 to aline With suitable pins I3 carried by the offset portion 8. Obviously, the removable cutting blades may be otherwise mounted upon thev shafts: Il without departing froml the spirit of the invention.V v The blades 6 are made readily removable from their holders in order that they may be quickly detached forY f sharpening purposes and then quickly replaced. As will be seen by reference to'Fig.4 4,1- have shown each of the shafts 4 as provided with five spaced-apart cutting blades 6, the` blades on each A shaft being preferably arranged at different an- I5 of endless chain links is mounted upon sprock-v 'gles so as to present a substantially spiral `ar" rangement, and it will also be seen that the blades of one set are offset laterally with relation to the blades of the other set.

of one shaft overlap the tip ends of. Ythe blades ,of the-other shaft during: the rotation thereof, and thatl the:h blades operate alternately and successively upon the tie-leaves of the hands of leaves,

as willV hereinafter more clearly appear. The

foregoing 'is an important feature of the inven-V tioncoveredby my said prior application.

I provide at the front of the housing I, and in spaced relation to the two sets of rotary cutters,

a mechanism for gripping and advancing the hands of leaves through the housing andv in therange of action of the cutting blades, so that said blades will cut and remove the tie-leaves that arewrappedaround the butt ends of the Y ets Ill', asfmore clearly shown in Fig. 2. The two endless chains of links have opposed parallel runs forming between them a gripping means for gripping. andtransporting the hands of leaves Cv fed therebetween, and` for carrying them within the range of action of the cutting blades 6 so ,thatY during; the movement of the hands through the cutting range of the blades, the tie-leaves` D-vare cut and removedfrom the "hands, leaving the fhaznds or bundlesl of leaVes'unted, so they will assu-me substantially the condition shown at E toA the right of Fig.V 1f. Y

rI preferA to providefra. plurality` of v spaced-apart idler sprockets I8, upon which the upperrun of theylower endlesschain maybe supported, and I further prefer to provide a plurality of yieldably mounted rollers If9 to press or bear upon the lower rut-1 of the upper endless chain, so as to yieldinglyl press the upper runof the chain against the hands, of. leaves asthey are fed forward by the chains and so as to; prevent theV leavesfrom moying endwise under the pulling strain of the cut-.1 ting-blades during thev tie-leaf cutting operation. The idler rollers I9 are mounted inv verti'cally-y mov-able bearingsv 2.0 normally urged downward by means of-.coiled springs 2I Vas more: clearly shown-inFig. 2, and the upper'chain- IIL is Pro1-1 It will also be seen byv referring to Figa?, that the-tip ends of the blades vided with a tensioning roller 22. The lower chain links are provided with a tensioning sprocket 23. I also prefer to mount the sprockets I6 upon vertically-yielding bearings 24, that are normally urged downward lby means of springs 25. Obviously, any other approved hand gripping and advancing means may be employed in lieu of` the means described.

his willE be seen by referring to Figs. 1y and 2,

,the endless hand gripping and transporting ijng for lthe cutters so that the hands of leaves fed between the parallel runs will be firmly grippedat a point intermediate their ends during the 'entire they are transported through the 'tie-leaf 'removing mechanism. :A table VZliuis,provided at the feed end of the hand gripping and conveying means and another'table'Z is interposed between said means and thep'feedvend of the stem-ming machine A. as more clearly shown in Figs. l and 2.. An endless feed.v belt 28.is arranged to travel. over the table 26, and operated to feed or advance the hands of leaves upto; the entrance end of the hand gripping,and-transporting mechanism, and-.a similar endless; feed belt 29 is arranged' between the Y exit en d o f. the tie-leaf removing` means and the. entrance or feedend of the stemming machine A, said feed belts being mounted upon suitably arranged pulleys that may be driven in. ,any suitable manner. I also prov-ide a eedbelt 3E), which is arranged' to Vtravel over the two tables 2lil and 2l., and in front of thetie-leaf removing means', and which belt likewise'extends into. the feed. end

of the stemming. machine.. The three belts. 28, .2.9 andy-,361, together with. the endless hand gripping and transporting means, convey the hands of leaves through the tie-,leafv removing means, and. fromthen ydirectly into-,the stemming machine where the membraneous portions of. the leaves areAremoved. Y

Y rIfhe tables 2@ and 21 are` provided. at their rear endsk with upstandingv Yguide boardsI 3|. against Y which the butt ends of the hands of leaves may be causedto abut in order to properlyaline the hands andv the leaves.

, As will. be seenby referringto- Figs. 3 and 4,

the end walls W` of -the housing I-, are out away toy provide (openingsrSZ,l which are locatedi-n the pathrof travel-of. the hand-s of leaves so that thelatter may be transported. through the housing and4 in the range @tacticn ofthe, cutting blades. v

. I prefer toarrange or locate the` tie-leaf removin-g means..- a slight dlstjancerin advance of the feed end of the stemming machine. A, as more clearly shown in Figs.. 1 and. 2, and. provide the separate endless feeding means describedin order to leave suicient spaceatthis pointto ,accom-mo.- date one or moreoperators whoV can spread. or

separatethe leaves. of the fhands by hand afterV the tie-leaves have been. removed therefrom,l soY that. the leaves maybe more uniformly separated,

'or Aspread Vbefore being fed into the stemming machine.

`It will be'understood thatjthe endless means output upon the rapidity with which the leaves are fed thereto, and it is desirable, therefore, to arrange to keep the feed belts 28 and 30 leading up to the tie-leaf and removing means fed to substantial capacity with the hands slightly spaced one from the other substantially as shown to the left of Fig. 1.

The housing l is provided at its lower open end with a hopper 33 to convey away the fragments of the cut tie-leaves as they are cut and removed from the hands. The lower end of the hopper may lead to a conveyor or to a lower floor of the building in which the stemming operations are carried on.

In Figs. 8-10 I have shown the improvement constituting the principal subject matter of the present application, and in these figures the primed numerals indicate the same parts as the unprimed numerals of Figs. 1-7.

Referring first to Figs. 9 and 10 it will be noted that the holders or blocks corresponding to the blocks 5 of Figs. 5-7, are adapted to receive, on their offset flanges or extensions 8', the blocks 35. The block 35 in Fig. 9 is shown in inverted pos1- tion, and the openings 33 receive the pins I3 when the parts are properly related. The block 35 is also provided with a longitudinal arcuate channel 31.

As previously mentioned instead of utilizing cutting blades to effect removal of the tie elements, I have found that relatively blunt fingers or hook-like elements may be used for the same purpose. In Figs. 8-10 these fingers or hooks are designated generally by the numeral 38, and the shank of each of said elements is cut away to provide a relatively flat surface 39 while the remainder of the shank is arcuate to t the groove 31 in the block 35. The outer ends of the fingers or hooks 38 are preferably curved and reduced as indicated by the numeral 40 to provide a tie element engaging and removing portion. i

To assemble the parts of Fig. 9, the shank of the element 38 is inserted in the groove 31 of the block 35, and the parts are then turned and placed over on the fiange 8 of the block 5 with the flat surface 38 engaging against the upper face of the ange 8. The bolts I8', corresponding to bolts lil of Figs. 5-'1 are then threaded through the alined onings in the parts 35 and 8 to hold them together with the flat -face 39 bound against the upper face of the ange 8 preventing rotative movement of the element 38 relative to its support. By reference to Fig. it will be noted that the thickness of that portion of the shank which engages between the parts 35 and 8 is slightly greater than the depth of the channels 31. This permits the obtaining of a tight binding action to firmly hold the elements in place during their rotation with the shafts ll and removal of the tie elements as shown in Fig. 8, it being noted that the fingers or hooks 38 are arranged offset relative to each other on the respective shafts in substantially the same manner as the blades 6 of Figs. 1-4.

The construction and arrangement of the fingers or hooks 38 is such as to prevent the cutting or shredding of the stems which occurs when sharp blades are used, and it is this feature which constitutes the essential matter of the present application as distinguished from my said prior application Ser. No. 9,506.

What I claim is:

1. A mechanism for removing tie-elements from the butt ends of hands of leaves, comprising means for gripping and advancing said hands of leaves along a common path of travel, rotary fingers mounted upon an axis substantially parallel to said path of travel of the hands of leaves, and means to rotate said fingers transversely to said path of travel of the hands of leaves whereby said fingers engage and remove said tie-elements from successive hands of leaves.

2. A machine for effecting removal of the tieleaves from hands of leaves, comprising a housing having a pair of horizontal shafts arranged one above the other and journaled in bearings in the opposite Walls of the housing, a plurality of hooks secured to each shaft, said hooks being offset relative to each other, and endless means for gripping and advancing the tied butts of the hands Within the range of action of the said hooks.

3. A machine for tearing the tie-leaves from hands of leaves, comprising two opposed sets of rotary hooks with the hooks of one set offset relative to those of the other set, means for rotating the hooks in opposite directions, and opposed endless gripping and advancing means having parallel runs located for travel in a horizontal path in front of and in a plane between the said two sets of hooks.

4. A mechanism for removing tie-elements from the butt ends of hands of leaves, comprising means for gripping and advancing said hands of leaves along a common path of travel, rotary fingers mounted upon an axis substantially parallel to said path of travel of the hands of leaves, and means to rotate said fingers transversely to said path of travel of the hands of leaves whereby said fingers engage and remove said tie-elements from successive hands of leaves, said fingers comprising hooks engageable with the tie-leaves of successive hands.

THOMAS R. PRIDDY. 

